Mining · 2022
South Africa — Off-grid Mining Data Center
Two 20 ft pods run the mine's control and safety systems on a site with an unreliable grid — and a 1,900 m altitude.
01 — The challenge
The mine's control room, ventilation monitoring and safety systems depended on grid power that failed several times a week. Ambient conditions swing from -5 °C to 42 °C, dust ingress destroys conventional equipment, and there is no skilled IT staff on site.
02 — The solution
Two CubeDC 20 ft pods were installed on pre-cast foundations, each with 10 racks, N+1 in-row cooling, a 300 kVA modular UPS and a solar-ready DC bus that accepts the site's PV array. The enclosures are rated IP55 with C5-M corrosion protection and positive-pressure filtration.
Remote monitoring reports to the group's Johannesburg operations centre, so faults are diagnosed before a technician drives to site.
03 — The result
Availability has held at 99.98% over three years, including grid outages of up to nine hours. Dust-related failures, previously a monthly event in the old control room, have dropped to zero.
More references
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